Apparatus for crushing fruit in an inert gas

ABSTRACT

An enclosed fruit-crusher, discharging into an enclosed tank filled with an inert gas, which, as it is filled with crushed fruit, displaces the inert gas from the tank through the crusher and out the crusher inlet, thereby preventing entry of oxidizing air into the crusher or tank at all times during filling and crushing. Inert gas under pressure is introduced into the tank as crushed fruit is discharged therefrom, thereby refilling the tank with inert gas and preventing contact of the crushed fruit with oxidizing air during emptying.

United States Patent 1 Johnson 1 Feb. 6, 1973 1 1 APPARATUS FOR CRUSHINGFRUIT IN AN INERT GAS [75] Inventor: Wallace J. S. Johnson, Berkeley,

Calif.

[73] Assignee: Up-Right, Inc., Berkeley, Calif.

[22] Filed: Nov. 18, 1971 [21] Appl. No.: 107,176

Related U.S. Application Data [63] Continuation-impart of Ser. No.65,576, Aug. 20,

1970, abandoned.

[52] U.S. Cl ..99/239 [51] Int. Cl. ..A23l 1/02 [58] Field of Search..99/239, 234, 240, 269, 271, 99/276, 277, 277.1, 277.2, 100, 105-106,

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 11/1939 Watkins ..99/239 UX2,540,345 2/1951 Pipkin ..99/239 X 3,083,634 4/1963 Rietz 3,256,8086/1966 Hunt 3,301,684 l/1967 Bosy 3,301,685 l/l967 Harwell 3,447,3376/1969 Skruch et al ..99/239 X Primary ExaminerR0bert W. JenkinsAssistant Examiner-Arthur 0. Henderson Att0rneyMellin, Moore &Weissenberger [57] ABSTRACT An enclosed fruit-crusher, discharging intoan enclosed tank filled with an inert gas, which, as it is filled withcrushed fruit, displaces the inert gas from the tank through the crusherand out the crusher inlet, thereby preventing entry of oxidizing airinto the crusher or tank at all times during filling and crushing. lnertgas under pressure is introduced into the tank as crushed fruit isdischarged therefrom, thereby refilling the tank with inert gas andpreventing contact of the crushed fruit with oxidizing air duringemptying.

12 Claims, 7 Drawing Figures PATENIEDFEB 6l973 3,714,887 SHEET 10F 3INVENTOR. WALLACE J. S. JOHNSON F|G 1 BY ATTORNEYS PATENTEU EB 6 I975SHEET 2 OF 3 FIG 4 INVENTOR. WALLACE J. S. JOHNSON ATTORNEYS PATENIEDFEBelm 3,714,887

SHEET 30F 3 FlG 7 INVENTOR. WALLACE J. S. JOHNSON ATTORNEYS APPARATUSFOR CRUSI-IING FRUIT IN AN INERT GAS CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATEDAPPLICATION This application is a continuation-in-part of my copendingapplication, Ser. No. 65,576, filed Aug. 20, 1970, now abandoned, andentitled APPARATUS FOR CRUSHING FRUIT IN AN INERT GAS.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to the crushing andhandling of fruit in general and to grapes in particular. Heretofore, ithas been the customary practice to crush fruit by various mechanicalmeans in an atmosphere of air. Exposure of the flesh of most fruits toair, for even a short time, causes oxidation ,of the flesh and aresulting loss of aroma and flavor. Such oxidation is well illustratedby taking a bite from an apple and witnessing, within minutes, theoxidized browning of the flesh. The loss of flavor and aroma is readilyapparent from the second bite.

Grape pulp is highly susceptible to oxidation. In the normal casewherein grapes are to be made into grape juice or wine, the grapes areharvested in bunches and the bunches are dumped into a crushing devicewhich removes the stems simultaneously with the crushing of the fruitinto a slurry, or must, comprised of juice, pulp, seeds and skin. Theexposure of this must to air, during crushing or in the handling thereofafter crushing, results in an undesirable diminishment of the quality ofthe product.

It is the primary object of this invention to overcome this loss ofquality by providing an inert gas atmosphere for the crushing of fruitand for the handling of the crushed fruit thereafter.

The problem of oxidization is aggravated when grapes are harvested bymechanical harvesters, such as those which use rods to beat against thevines to dislodge the bunches therefrom. In such process, many of thegrapes will be crushed during the harvesting. If there is an appreciabletime lag between the harvesting and the later crushing of the bunches,the alreadycrushed grapes will oxidize and their quality willdeteriorate.

It is therefore a further object of the invention to provide apparatusfor crushing and handling grapes in an inert gas atmosphere whichapparatus can be mounted on a mobile mechanical grape harvester so thatthe grapes can be precessed immediately after they are removed from thevines.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention provides'an enclosedcontainer means, the upper portion having a suitable crusher for thetype of fruit being harvested, and the lower portion acting as a storagetank for the crushed fruit slurry.

The container means has an open inlet at its top through which fruit isintroduced. The fruit is then crushed and the must collects in thelower, or storage, portion of the container. The container means isinitially filled with an inert gas, and, as fruit enters the inlet theinert gas within the container is displaced out of the same inlet,countercurrent to the fruit going in. Entry of air through the openinlet is prevented by the countercurrent flow of inert gas, and is alsoprevented if the inert gas used has a greater density than air, such ascarbon dioxide.

In addition, an enclosed conveyor may be used to convey fruit upwardlyto the inlet opening of the container. In such case, as fruit is carriedthrough the conveyor, the inert gas will be displaced from the containerdown through the conveyor countercurrent to the fruit movementtherethrough. Such flow of inert gas prevents the oxidation of suchfruit as may be crushed in the conveyor. Additionally, the downwardslope of the enclosed conveyor enables the containers to be filled withan inert gas having a density less than air, as, for example, nitrogen.

As the fruit is crushed, the slurry drains into and fills the lowercontainer portion, displacing the inert gas therein upwardly.

In one form of the invention, when it comes time to empty the must fromthe container, a valve is closed to prevent flow of inert gas from thecontainer inlet and the interior of the container is connected to asource of inert gas under pressure. This gas pressure forces thecontents out through the bottom outlet of the container while refillingthe container with inert gas. By virtue of this emptying step, theapparatus is maintained full of inert gas, and the apparatus isimmediately ready for a new charge of fruit thereinto.

In another form of the invention, the must is pumped from the containermeans while inert gas is introduced into the container, so that thecontainer remains full of inert gas. In this form of the invention, mustmay be discharged without interruption of the harvesting and crushingoperations.

Thus,. at all times during crushing, storage and discharge, the fruit ismaintained out of contact with oxidizing air.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS In the drawings forming a part of thisapplication, and in which like parts are designated by like referencenumerals throughout the same,

FIG. 1 is a side elevational view of a grape harvester having aconveyor, crusher and storage container mounted thereon;

FIG. 2 is a front elevational view of the, harvester of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a side elevational view of the conveyor, crusher and storagecontainer of FIG. 1, with portions cut away to show internal details;

FIG. 4 is a depiction of the apparatus of FIG. 1 as the storagecontainer is discharged into a tank trailer;

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary view of the storage container illustrating amodification of the outlet therefrom;

FIG. 6 is a fragmentary view of the storage container illustratinganother modification of the outlet therefrom;

FIG. 7 is a side elevational view, similar to FIG. 3, illustrating amodification of the invention wherein the crusher and storage containersare combined as a single container.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Referring now to the drawings,wherein FIGS. 1-4 illustrate one embodiment of the invention,grape-harvesting machine comprises an inverted-U-shaped frame 11,mounted on wheels 12, so that the machine may straddle and move down arow of grapevines. For purposes of simplicity in the presentapplication, the grape-picking apparatus carried by the machine betweenthe side walls thereof has been omitted from FIGS. 1 and 2. If desired,such apparatus may be of the type illustrated and described in theKaessbohrer and Horn application, Ser. No. 864,127, filed Oct. 6, 1969,which application has been assigned to the assignee of the presentapplication.

The harvesting machine 10 has mounted on each side thereof an upperenclosed container and a lower enclosed container 16 therebelow. Theupper container 15 has disposed therein a suitable grape stemmer andcrusher 17. For purposes of illustration here, a grape stemmer andcrusher as described in U. 5. Pat. No. 3,478,796 is generally shown,such apparatus having beater blades 18 rotating within a perforatedrevolving drum 19. The crushed slurry below the drum 19 is carried by aconveyor screw 20 to the outlet 21 of the crusher container 15. Thegrape stems are pushed through the drum and discharged through a chute22 downwardly into a bag 23 tied onto the chute. Further details of thecrusher and stemmer are shown in said U. S. Pat. No. 3,478,796, thedisclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference. Other suitablecrushers may be used if desired.

The crusher container 15 is provided with an inlet 24 at its upper endthrough which fruit is introduced for crushing by the crusher device 17.Save for the inlet 24,

to the crusher.

The outlet 21 of crusher container 15 is connected by a flexible conduit33 to the inlet 34 of the storage container 16. The inlet is providedwith a flapper valve 35 connected by line 36 passing through the wall ofconduit- 33 to a ring handle 36a, so that during discharge the inlet maybe closed against gas flow upwardly through inlet 34. A check valve andhose connection 37 is provided so that gas under pressure may beintroduced into the storage container, the check valve preventing gasflow from the container.

A normally closed and sealed manhole 38 is provided for periodic routineinspection and cleaning of the storage container. A conveyor screw 39,powered by motor 40, is disposed in the bottom of the tank to assist inmoving the slurry contained in the tank towards the container dischargeoutlet 41 and into sump 42, the outlet 43 of which is connected todischarge conduit 44.

The discharge conduits 44 of both storage containers 16 extend upwardlyabove the storage containers and are joined to a single conduit 45 whichleads through a flexible conduit section 46 and a rigid section 47 to aflexible section 48. The rigid section 47 is suspended by a turnbuckleand cable device 49 to frame 11, and the flexible section 48 is normallytrained back on the frame, out of the way, when the harvesting machineis in operation. The discharge end of flexible section 48 is capped at50 so that dust and debris will not enter the conduit during harvesting.

DESCRIPTION OF OPERATION If the storage tanks are not already filledwith an inert gas, a tank of inert gas under pressure, for example,carbon dioxide or nitrogen, is connected by hose 56 to the inlet37 ofthe storage container. Flapper valve 35 is opened and the dischargeconduit cap 50 is removed.

If an inert gas lighter than air is used, for example nitrogen, the gasintroduced into storage container 16 will rise into the crushercontainer 15 and the air in both containers will be gradually displacedout through the discharge conduit 44. When all of the air has beendisplaced, the containers l5 and 16, the discharge conduits 44 and theconveyor shrouds 27 will all be filled with such gas.

If an inert gas heavier than air is used, for example carbon dioxide,the introduced gas will displace the lighter air upwardly, through thecontainers 15 and 16 and out the inlet opening 24. Discharge conduits 44will also be filled with such gas. Since such gas is heavier than air,the conveyor shrouds 28 would be initially filled with air aftercontainers 15 and 16 have been filled with gas. I v

The gas tank 55 is disconnected, and the harvesting machine 10 is thenused to straddle and travel along a row of grapevines, harvestingbunches of grapes therefrom which are deposited in the conveyor troughs29 and carried upwardly by screws 28 and dumped into the crushercontainers. The grapes are stemmed and crushed, the crushed must flowingby gravity, assisted by screw 20, into the storage containers l6 and thestems being ejected into the stem disposal chutes 22.

The continuous flow of grape bunches into the crusher containersdisplaces the inert gas therefrom, which gas flows countercurrent to thegrape bunches out of the crusher container outlets and down through theconveyor shrouds 27. As the must fills the storage containers 16, thelevel thereof in the discharge conduits will rise, approximately to thelevel in'container 16, but the upper surface of such must in thedischarge conduits will only be in contact with the inert gas therein.

Thus, during crushing, the grapes and the crushed must will be incontact only with the inert gas in the containers. Additionally, thedisplaced gas flowing downwardly through the conveyor shrouds will alsoprotect the partially crushed grapes therein from oxidizing contact withair.

When the harvesting machine reaches the end of a row of vines, theflexible discharge conduit 48 is inserted into the inlet opening 57 of asuitable enclosed tank trailer 58 whichis also filled with an inert gas.Gas tank 55 is again connected to storage container inlet 39, flappervalve 35 is closed, and inert gas is introduced into the storagecontainer. The pressure of this gas forces the must out through thedischarge conduits into the tank trailer. During this time the bags 23of stems may be removed, emptied and refastened.

After the storage containers have been emptied, the gas pressure isturned off and the gas supply lines 56 are disconnected. The dischargeconduit is stored back on the frame, and the flapper valves 35 arereopened. The containers l5 and 16 are thus again full of inert gas andthe machine is ready to harvest the next row of vines.

The above operations are repeated until harvesting is complete. By theabove procedure, mechanically harvested, grapes may be crushed in afraction of a minute after they are harvested, and the crushed must isnever exposed to oxidation or contamination. Superior quality juice orwine is the result.

FIG. 5 illustrates a modification of the invention, as used in instanceswherein it is not desired to discharge the storage container through adischarge conduit hav- .ing an upwardly extending trap arrangement asdescribed above. In such case, a valve 60 is disposed in the dischargeconduit 44 adjacent the outlet of sump 42, which valve is closed at alltimes save during actual discharge. Otherwise the system of operation isthe same as above described.

If desired, the downwardly inclined shrouded conveyor may be eliminatedand grape bunches simply dropped into the crusher inlet either by handor by a horizontal or upwardly inclined conveyor. If so, the open inletshould be located at the upper end of the crusher container and abovethe crushing apparatus therein, and an inert gas heavier than air shouldbe used. Thus, even though the crusher container is open upwardly at itsinlet, the heavier inert gas will remain in the container and will notbe displaced by the air above. Entry of grape bunches, however, willagain displace the inert gas upwardly through the inlet, countercurrentto the grapes being put into the apparatus. If a horizontal or upwardlyinclined conveyor is used, and sealed to the inlet, the displaced gaswill also flow through the conveyor to protect any crushed grapestherein from oxidation.

In many instances, such as where the vineyard being harvested has longrows of vines and/or a heavy crop, the container 16 will be filledbefore the harvester reaches the end of a row and it would be desirableto unload must from the tank into a separate tank vehicle movingalongside the harvester while the harvester is in motion and operation.

To accomplish this, discharge conduit 44 is connected to the separatetank vehicle, e.g., such as tank trailer 58, which moves with theharvester, and screw 39 is rotated to discharge the must through conduit44. The gas tank 55 is mounted on the harvester and the operator turnson the gas tank valve to admit gas into storage container 16 at the sametime as screw 39 is turned on. The inflow of gas is adjusted so thatthere is an excess of that required to replace the must beingdischarged. The excess gas flows up into the crusher container and outthrough the conveyor. In this manner the crusher and storage containersare maintained full of inert gas during discharge while permittingcrushing to continue, with the must from the crusher passing down intothe storage container. After the storage container has been emptied,screw 39 is turned off, the gas tank valve is turned off and thedischarge conduit 44 is disconnected from the tank trailer. Harvestingand crushing then continues until the storage container again needsemptying.

In some instances, discharge conduit 44 must go up and over an adjacentvine row to the separate moving tank trailer, and the screw 39 may notbe able to provide sufficient pressure to force the must through theconduit 44. In this case, a paddle pump 70 or other suitable pump isadded to the system, FIG. 6, at the entrance to conduit 44 to providethe pressure necessary to discharge must from storage container 16 whilemust is flowing thereinto from the crusher. The paddle pump 70 and screw39 would cooperate in emptying the storage container and they would beturned on and off simultaneously. Preferably they would both be drivenby the single motor 40. This screw and pump system of emptying thestorage container 16 requires a lesser amount of inert gas to operatethe system as compared to utilizing gas pressure for discharge.

FIG. 7 illustrates a further embodiment of the invention wherein theseparate crusher and storage containers are combined as a singlenon-pressure, enclosed container 100 with the grape stemmer and crusher117 disposed in the upper portion of the container to discharge thecrushed must into the large catch-basin lower portion thereof. Thecontainer is, as before, mounted on a mobile harvesting vehicle, andgrapes are carried up through shroud 27 by conveyor 28 and dumpedthrough container inlet 124. The must is discharged from the outletopening 141 of container 100 by screw 139 and paddle pump 170, bothoperated by motor 140. The gas tank 55 is also mounted on the harvestingmachine and is connected to container 100 by gas line 156.

The operation of a harvester equipped with the apparatus of FIG. 7 isessentially the same as previously described, in that the container isinitially filled with inert gas, which gas is displaced upwardly throughthe container inlet and down through the shroud, countercurrent to thegrapes as they are conveyed into the container and crushed therein. Thestems pass out of the container, down chute 122 into bag 23. When it isdesired to discharge the crushed must, screw 139 and paddle pump 170 areturned on, together with the gas tank valve. During discharge, grapesmay continue to be harvested and crushed.

If it is desired to operate the apparatus of FIG. 7 as a gas pressuredischarge system, the container inlet 124 may be valved, as is the inlet34 of FIG. 3, so that the container may be pressurized.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

1. Apparatus for crushing fruit in an inert gas comprising:

a. a first enclosed container having an inlet opening at the upper endthereof,

b. means in said first container for crushing fruit ine. means forpreventing flow of gas from said second container up through said firstcontainer and out the inlet opening thereof when said interior of saidsecond container is subjected to superatmospheric pressure,

f. a source of inert gas filling said first and second containers.

2. Apparatus as set forth in claim 1, wherein said means (d) comprises avalve.

3. Apparatus as set forth in claim l, wherein said means (d) comprises aconduit'connected to said outlet opening, said conduit extendingupwardly above the top of said second container.

4. Apparatus as set forth in claim 1, and further including a source ofinert gas under superatmospheric pressure, and means for connecting saidsource to said second container. 1'

5. Apparatus as set forth in claim 4, and further including a mobilevehicle, said first and second containers being mounted on said vehiclefor transportation thereby.

6. Apparatus as set forth in claim 1 and further including a shroudconnected at one end to the inlet of said first container and extendingtherefrom, said shroud having an opening at the other end thereof, andconveyor means disposed in said shroud and extending beyond the openingthereof for conveying fruit through said shroud and into the inletopening of said first container.

7. Apparatus as set forth in claim 6, and further including a mobilevehicle, said first and second containers and said conveyor means beingmounted on said vehicle for transportation thereby, and furtherincluding a source of inert gas under superatmospheric pressure andmeans for connecting said source to said second container.

8. Apparatus for crushing, transporting and discharging fruit in'aninert gas comprising:

a. a mobile vehicle,

b. enclosed container means mounted on said vehicle, said containermeans having an inlet opening at the upper end thereof and an outletopening at the lower end thereof,

. means in the upper portion of said container means for crushing fruitintroduced into said container means through said inlet opening,

. a source inert gas filling said container means, said gas beingdisplaceable out through said inlet opening upon introduction of fruitin through said inlet opening,

. said source of inert gas under superatmospheric pressure,

f. means for simultaneously discharging crushed fruit through saidoutlet opening and for introducing inert gas from said source into saidcontainer means.

9. Apparatus as set forth in claim 8, wherein said lastnamed meansincludes a valve means for preventing discharge of inert gas from saidinlet opening when the interior of said container means is subjected tosuperatmospheric pressure.

10. Apparatus as set forth in claim 8, wherein said last-named means isoperable to discharge crushed fruit through said outlet opening when theinterior of said container means is at atmos heric ressure.

11. Apparatus as set for h m 0 arm 8, wherein said

1. Apparatus for crushing fruit in an inert gas comprising: a. a firstenclosed container having an inlet opening at the upper end thereof, b.means in said first container for crushing fruit introduced into saidcontainer through said inlet opening, c. a second enclosed containerdisposed below saiD first container and in fluid communicationtherewith, said second container having an outlet at the lower endthereof, d. means for preventing discharge of crushed fruit through saidoutlet of said second container when the interior of said secondcontainer is at atmospheric pressure, and for allowing discharge throughsaid outlet when said interior of said second container is subjected tosuperatmospheric pressure, e. means for preventing flow of gas from saidsecond container up through said first container and out the inletopening thereof when said interior of said second container is subjectedto superatmospheric pressure, f. a source of inert gas filling saidfirst and second containers.
 1. Apparatus for crushing fruit in an inertgas comprising: a. a first enclosed container having an inlet opening atthe upper end thereof, b. means in said first container for crushingfruit introduced into said container through said inlet opening, c. asecond enclosed container disposed below saiD first container and influid communication therewith, said second container having an outlet atthe lower end thereof, d. means for preventing discharge of crushedfruit through said outlet of said second container when the interior ofsaid second container is at atmospheric pressure, and for allowingdischarge through said outlet when said interior of said secondcontainer is subjected to superatmospheric pressure, e. means forpreventing flow of gas from said second container up through said firstcontainer and out the inlet opening thereof when said interior of saidsecond container is subjected to superatmospheric pressure, f. a sourceof inert gas filling said first and second containers.
 2. Apparatus asset forth in claim 1, wherein said means (d) comprises a valve. 3.Apparatus as set forth in claim 1, wherein said means (d) comprises aconduit connected to said outlet opening, said conduit extendingupwardly above the top of said second container.
 4. Apparatus as setforth in claim 1, and further including a source of inert gas undersuperatmospheric pressure, and means for connecting said source to saidsecond container.
 5. Apparatus as set forth in claim 4, and furtherincluding a mobile vehicle, said first and second containers beingmounted on said vehicle for transportation thereby.
 6. Apparatus as setforth in claim 1 and further including a shroud connected at one end tothe inlet of said first container and extending therefrom, said shroudhaving an opening at the other end thereof, and conveyor means disposedin said shroud and extending beyond the opening thereof for conveyingfruit through said shroud and into the inlet opening of said firstcontainer.
 7. Apparatus as set forth in claim 6, and further including amobile vehicle, said first and second containers and said conveyor meansbeing mounted on said vehicle for transportation thereby, and furtherincluding a source of inert gas under superatmospheric pressure andmeans for connecting said source to said second container.
 8. Apparatusfor crushing, transporting and discharging fruit in an inert gascomprising: a. a mobile vehicle, b. enclosed container means mounted onsaid vehicle, said container means having an inlet opening at the upperend thereof and an outlet opening at the lower end thereof, c. means inthe upper portion of said container means for crushing fruit introducedinto said container means through said inlet opening, d. a source inertgas filling said container means, said gas being displaceable outthrough said inlet opening upon introduction of fruit in through saidinlet opening, e. said source of inert gas under superatmosphericpressure, f. means for simultaneously discharging crushed fruit throughsaid outlet opening and for introducing inert gas from said source intosaid container means.
 9. Apparatus as set forth in claim 8, wherein saidlast-named means includes a valve means for preventing discharge ofinert gas from said inlet opening when the interior of said containermeans is subjected to superatmospheric pressure.
 10. Apparatus as setforth in claim 8, wherein said last-named means is operable to dischargecrushed fruit through said outlet opening when the interior of saidcontainer means is at atmospheric pressure.
 11. Apparatus as set forthin claim 8, wherein said source of inert gas is mounted on said vehiclefor transport thereby.